Saturday, August 29, 2015

Volunteer Clearances

The PA legislature has passed new volunteer clearances rules, addressing school districts' concerns. There are no changes to all currently approved volunteer agreements until July 2016. Two State clearances will be required, but paid for by the State. Here are the volunteer clearance highlights: The definition of a volunteer remains basically the same - there were some concerns that a parent coming into school for a birthday party might need a clearance - not any longer.  The same rules we used in the past for who needs clearances will remain intact. If a parent was already a recognized volunteer last year then they will not have to do anything new until July of next year (2016). Beginning in July of 2016 all volunteers will need 2 PA clearances, but PA will pick up the cost. Also beginning in July of 2016 all volunteers who have lived in PA less than 10 years will require a Federal clearance with fingerprinting. Please see the attached for more information.